Believing
by Luddles
Summary: Zexion is annoyed. That perky blonde idiot stole his book. Demyx is astounded. That sulky, short boy doesn't believe in fairy tales. Elementary school AU surrounding Zexion and Demyx. Friendship fic, no pairings. Oneshot


**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

**A/N: Yes, I know Zexion was technically never ten years old, because he was Ienzo then and now he is a Nobody and all that stuff… but this is an AU and we don't technically know Demyx's Somebody's name, so I just called them by their Nobody names. **

**Believing**

"What'cha reading?"

Ten-year-old Zexion glanced up at the cheerful, lilting voice, readjusting his reading glasses on his nose. He scrutinized the boy in front of him, grinning like he was not being strange at all by asking a complete stranger what they were reading. Well, Zexion supposed, he was at school and he _was_ at recess, which was the designated time in which he was supposed to… _socialize_. Not that he wanted to. The boy in front of him was about his age, with blonde, unruly hair that was half pulled back into a ponytail on top of his head. There was a bandage on his cheek where he had obviously fallen some time before, and his hands were dirty. He was wearing a blue T-shirt with a surfboard on it and had bright turquoise eyes.

Zexion held up the book so that the other boy could see the title; _A Beginner's Guide to Organic Chemistry_. "Oh… Is it… good?" was the next question.

"Yeah. You probably wouldn't like it, though," Zexion said. Without time for him to react, the book was snatched from his hands and the boy was glancing through it.

"What _is_ this stuff?" he asked, awestruck, turning the book upside-down in hopes that it would make more sense that way. The lines and letters and shapes did not mean anything to him, and the words on the side column of the page were no help; most of them were too big for him to understand. "How do you read that?"

"It's science," Zexion explained, attempting to grab for his book again. The boy turned just as he did and so he missed.

"It looks boring."

Finally, something that wasn't a question. However, it was an insult, so Zexion jumped off the bench and reached for the book. "Give it back!" he ordered, but the boy just held it out of his reach. Zexion was much too short to get the book away from his classmate (he had just realized that the boy was in his class).

"Not until you tell me your name," the boy chirped, adding a muttered, "you're so short," afterwards.

"It's Zexion," said Zexion, "happy now?"

"I'm Demyx!"

He hadn't asked, but he was just glad when the book was deposited into his waiting hands. Without replying to Demyx, he returned to the bench and sat down, looking through the thick book for the place he'd left off at. Demyx sat down next to him, and Zexion glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Would you mind?" he asked, in the most polite way he could.

"Mind what?"

"_Leaving_," Zexion said acidly.

"Yeah," Demyx replied. "Why are you reading that stuff, anyway? Don't you like regular books? Like comic books! Or maybe fairy tales…" he trailed off, momentarily lost in a reverie.

"I don't believe in fairy tales," Zexion said, turning a page of his book and trying to act like he was ignoring Demyx.

He could not, however, ignore the awestruck look and the shout of "WHAAAT? You don't believe in fairy tales!" that came a few moments thereafter.

"No, I don't! They're stupid and they aren't real," Zexion snapped.

"Not being real doesn't make them stupid. I like plenty of things that aren't real," Demyx said.

Zexion had no argument for that, so he tried another tactic. "Go away."

"Hmm…" Demyx sighed, as if he was seriously considering it. He thought for a moment, swinging his legs back and forth. "How 'bout… no. I like it here. You're new, aren't you?"

"Yes," Zexion answered through gritted teeth, inwardly raging at his parents who taught him always to answer a question that was asked of him.

"Cool!" Demyx squealed. "I can introduce you to some of my friends if you want!"

"No thanks," Zexion said, but he didn't think Demyx heard him, because less than ten seconds after he replied, Demyx was dragging him across the park to meet some loud, obnoxious redhead with a name that sounded like a part of a car. Well, he supposed, he did not really mind, and so he joined the rest of the boys for a game of hide and seek, the chemistry book forgotten on the park bench.


End file.
